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[It's easier to remain quiet, after his little outburst. Regulus is giving so many details, and Sirius has a feeling that he needs to get this all out. He needs to talk about it, and it's some kind of honor that he's telling Sirius. Even if he doesn't know that Regulus hasn't told anyone else, it's still something special.

So he listens, feeling his desire to laugh at Regulus slip away. He had known what year Regulus died, but it never really struck him how young his brother had been when this happened. His face is unreadable until a soft creasing starts to pinch his eyebrows, and something that Regulus might or might not recognize as pride shining in his eyes.]

Stupid? Maybe, but only in the way that courage in the fact of serious danger is stupid. Regulus you did something really brave. You... you really are... [So much better than he ever gave credit for] so changed.

[He stands up, walking over to Regulus' shadowy form and attempting to rest a hand on his upper arm, if Regulus will stay corporeal.]

I wish you hadn't had to do it alone, and I will take some of the blame for that. But I'm... proud of you.

[He's not sure what to expect. Pride is something he's so rarely seen in the face of family. As Sirius approaches, Regulus watches him with suspicion, as if waiting for the trick.]

[Nonetheless, when Sirius reaches out to him, Regulus is solid. Not entirely solid - there's a kind of haze around him, a cold, thick aura that crackles like the air before a storm - but solid enough to touch. He doesn't say anything for several moments, his white eyes flicking from the hand on his arm, to his brother's face, to the room around them, to Sirius' face again.]

[He shakes his head, and his glowing eyes dim as he closes them.]

Don't be.

I could have got out. I could have actually made a difference. If I'd just had a bit more self-control... He tried to stop me, you know. He told me the water was just as dangerous. But I was so thirsty. I was so thirsty, and I was so tired, and I...

[Under Sirius' hand, Regulus' form shivers and loses solidity for a moment. The shadows that make up his form are achingly, stingingly cold.]

[He shakes his head, opening his eyes.]

It didn't do anything, Sirius. Worse than nothing. They work it out eventually, and they go to the cave to destroy it, and because of me, it isn't there. Because of me, there's a piece of the Dark Lord's soul in Kreacher's den and the war goes on for years more. And now, I'm pretty sure there were more Horcruces, so even if I'd succeeded...

It wasn't brave. I should have just turned myself in.

[Denial is not something Sirius expected, here. He stares with lifted eyebrows at the wall behind Regulus, slowly peeling himself back to hold his brother by the shoulders.]

Were you always this bloody hard on yourself? You stood up to Voldemort himself, almost directly to his face, after living with our family your whole life. You did it basically alone. You had Kreacher but he could only do so much. You drank poison left by the greatest evil wizard ever! That's bloody stupid brave!

[He shakes his head, looking slightly up for a moment as he does some mental math.]

Fuck you weren't even done with school yet were you? An underage wizard, getting past Voldemort's own magic wards and booby trap. Give yourself more credit. I don't think very many could have even gotten as far as you did.

[Regulus isn't sure what he expected, but it definitely wasn't this, and he's not at all sure what to do with what might actually be pride. Or, for that matter, with Sirius claiming he's being hard on himself, when he's not. He's really not.]

[His shoulders aren't quite solid under Sirius' grip, the freezing shadows giving a little under the pressure, lapping at Sirius' fingers like dark water. He sags, biting his lip.]

It was bloody stupid, anyway. I'll take your word for it on brave.

Anyway. Now you know, I suppose. Better late than never.

[Sirius sighs, his own shoulders sagging. He's better now about knowing when to stop, so stop he does.]

Allright well, we were both bloody stupid and now we're somehow both alive, so... I guess it could be much worse.

[He pulls a crooked smile.]

Thanks, for telling me.

[Regulus actually does smile back, although it speaks more of weariness than of any actual happiness or humour.]

Thank you for listening. [Even with his flares of anger at some of Sirius' responses, this has honestly gone much better than he'd expected.]

Bellatrix has it now. The Horcrux. Or... well, something that looks like it, at any rate. I didn't entirely manage to control myself when I saw that.

In any case, she knows a little more than I was hoping she would, by now.

[Regulus gets one last squeeze to the shoulder in acknowledgement of that thanks. His brotherly smile doesn't last long at that mention of Bellatrix, though. He looks, frankly, horrified.]

You don't think... the thing still has a piece of Voldemort in it, do you?

[Please Merlin, no. The last fucking thing they need.]

No. No, I think...

I think it might have a piece of her in it, actually. Have you met any liches here?

[... Is that worse? That might be worse.]

Can't say that I have, no.

Well, they have phylacteries. Not unlike a Horcrux, though by all accounts easier to destroy.

Unless I'm much mistaken, Salazar's locket is hers.

[He's not entirely sure why he's sharing this information. Definitely not in subconscious hope that Sirius or someone else can use it against her. Definitely not. He's loyal to family.]

[Sirius blanches just a little bit.]

Okay. Right, phylacteries. I think I read about that somewhere- it's like an external heart or something? And hers is Salazar Slytherin's locket.

Yes. That's more or less the shape of things.

On the bright side, it no longer actually has Him in it. On the less bright side...

[...It might as well, for how it feels to look at it.]

...she's definitely not going to let blood be a barrier to getting some kind of revenge if she finds out what I originally planned for it.

[Sirius' face is wrinkled with disgust, when all at once it forms into a snarl much like the lion of Gryffindor house, bared pointed teeth and all.]

If she thinks she's going to lay a finger on you, she has to get through me first.

[Regulus flinches a little at that look - it's just a little too Black, just a little too furious, to be comfortable, and he's still not exactly on an even keel anyway - but, at the same time, it's almost... nice? Yes. Nice, to have Sirius defensive over him. It feels like it's been a long time since that was the case.]

Don't be ridiculous. I'm stronger than you are.

[Regulus flinching is more than enough to get Sirius to calm down, relaxing his lips so he isn't snarling at the least, though his eyes are still cold as ice.]

You're not. But LaStrange is certainly weaker than both of us combined.

[Regulus is very tempted to retort that actually, yes, he is. Maybe not in their own world, maybe not in the place where Sirius is so well-liked and talented, but here? Where he's spent years getting to know his new - and complete - monster form, and where he has powers through the Fog that most monsters do not? He is, objectively, stronger than Sirius.]

[But he's self-aware enough to know that saying so would just be picking a fight. And, really, it's not the point. His smile is genuine.]

It's been a while since that was an option, hasn't it?

[His eyes are still chilly, but they warm slightly with something bittersweet and nostalgic.]

It has.

[Longer, in fact, than Sirius is even aware of. It's hard to track the passage of time in Azkaban, practically impossible.]

I'm going to have your back this time, Reg.

[It's an impulse, one he wouldn't usually give credence to. Right now, though - right now, for once in either of his lives, he actually does feel the need to offer a hug. It's clumsy and awkward and brief, but it's still a hug.]

Thanks. And I...

I'm sorry I didn't have yours.

[Sirius has no verbal response to that, because he fears anything he says will either take them down a road of arguing about who let whom down more, or ruin the moment. He just returns the hug with a tight squeeze, far less awkward about it than Regulus.]

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